1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to floor pumps and more particularly to a hand operated floor pump with a retractable stand.
2. Description of the Known Art
Hand pumps have existed for many years for purposes of manual operation in the inflation of various items. Typically such items are recreational products, but hand pumps have also been used for other purposes such as on tires for automotive vehicles. More commonly, however, hand pumps are used to inflate the tires of bicycles, pneumatic balls and other such recreational items.
Some hand pumps are relatively small and are adapted to be held in one hand and operated with another by reciprocally moving, telescoping or axially aligned components to compress air within a cylinder which is transferred from the cylinder into a valve stem or sealed hole in the article being inflated. Hand operated floor pumps are also well known in the art and typically are larger than the hand held pumps. The hand operated floor pumps are adapted to be placed on a supporting surface and usually held in place with the operator's foot which engages an anchor or pedal on the lower end of the pump.
Hand operated floor pumps typically include an elongated cylindrical barrel having a piston rod with a handle at one end so that the piston rod can be reciprocated relative to the barrel to compress air on alternating strokes. The compressed air is forced out of an opening in the barrel, which is typically in communication with a flexible hose having a valve head on its terminal end. Valve heads take numerous forms, but are adapted to be connected to valve stems or needles for insertion into sealed openings in pneumatic balls or the like so that the compressed air can be transferred into the article being inflated.
One problem with hand operated floor pumps is that they are not satisfactorily self supporting and will not therefore stand vertically erect for convenient operation without the assistance of an operator. Accordingly, the operator's foot must necessarily be held on an anchor or foot pedal intended to hold the barrel of the pump in an upright operating position. Many times, however, the foot anchors or pedals are not rigid with respect to the barrel thereby allowing the barrel to move independently of the foot pedal. Further, the necessity of the operator to keep his foot on the anchor or pedal restricts the freedom of the operator since his foot by necessity is located closely adjacent to the pump barrel.
It is to overcome the above shortcomings in hand operated foot pumps that the present invention has been developed.